Dallas Smith Has No Desire to Slow Down Any Time Soon

Today I’m joining Dallas Smith for a few easy miles.

According to StateRunningRecords.com, Dallas has 71 current state records under his belt at various ages and just about every distance possible.

Dallas Smith, Resting and Relaxing

The Magic of the Marathon

Dallas finds the marathon to be his favorite distance, even though he is quick to say that it is not his best distance.

He enjoys the unpredictability of the marathon, and the risk of going out too fast and “overplaying your hand” as he puts it.

However, he keeps coming back to the marathon distance and trying his luck at the distance.

The Last Annual Vol State 500k Road Race

Dallas says he doesn’t think of himself as an ultra marathoner, even though he has completed several of them.

One of the biggest ultra marathons that I’ve hear of is the Vol State 500k, which is a 500k (314 mile) road race across the state of Tennessee in the middle of the summer.

Dallas Smith at the Finish of the Vol State 500k

I’m not sure I can think of a single good reason for participating in a race of this magnitude, and Dallas has done it (unsupported both times!) twice!

However, in hearing Dallas talk about the nature of this race I could definitely be talked into crewing for this race. Other than the fact that you’re running (or suffering) 314 miles, it sounds like a pretty fun race.

The Bench of Despair

Dallas recently released his third book, The Bench of Despair, about his stories from completing the Vol State 500k.

Dallas Smith on the ACTUAL Bench of Despair

We talked about the reasoning behind running this race after a failed attempt at an epic adventure in Spain with a friend a few years back. That “failure” stuck in Dallas’s craw, and tackling Vol State was his attempt at redemption.

The second time running this race, Dallas made a point of writing a blog post at the end of each day no matter how much time it cost him.

And those posts eventually became a book.

The Stories Just Kept Flowing

I’m making the executive decision to cut this post short today, I hope you’ll forgive me.

Dallas is a great storyteller, and I made the executive decision early in our chat to stay out of the way and let him talk as much as possible.

I jump in a few times, but for the most part I just turned Dallas loose.

In all honesty, I could sit on the porch with this man and listen to him talk and tell stories for much longer than just an hour.

Instead of trying to summarize the majority of our conversation, I’m going to do what I did during our chat and simply get out of the way and let you enjoy his stories the same way I did: without having any idea what he was going to talk about next.

You’ll enjoy it, I promise.

Listening to @SmithBend talk about the Vol State 500k almost makes me want to run it. Almost. #runchat Click To Tweet

If you aren’t connected with Dallas, make sure you check out his blog and/or say hi to him on Twitter. You won’t regret it.

In addition to The Bench of Despair, Dallas has also written Falling Forward and Going Down Slow. (Affiliate Links)

As Always, I’d Love to Know What Stood Out to You From this Episode! Let Me Know Your Takeaway in the Comments Below!

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